The Pride of a God
by Sand-wolf579
Summary: One of Deseray's brother's is easily found, posing as an African god in a small village. Getting him to get down from his high pedestal is another matter. It doesn't help that there's also a deadly sickness going around.
1. Chapter 1

**Yeah, I'm back with the next story, forever later. It may be a little rough around the edges because I planned parts of it, but am not exactly sure of the details. But when am I ever? So I think it'll turn out fine.**

**I don't own Jackie Chan Adventures. Just the thought is laughable.**

"Guy's, this jungle is never ending. We'll never get out." Jade Chan complained to the others. They had indeed been wandering around the jungle for a few hours ever since Frank had teleported them there. All of them were hot, tired, and very, very irritated with each other.

"Would you stop your whining already?" Seymour snaps at her, "It's not helping."

"No, what would really be helpful was if Frank could actually get us to where we actually need to go, rather than in the middle of nowhere." Jade says as she sends a glare in Frank's direction.

"This is not my fault," Frank says for the tenth time, "Teleportation is harder than it looks. Especially if it's to some random place I've never even heard of before."

"Guy's, shut up." Sparrow says harshly, "Who knows what kind of danger's live in these jungles, and with all the noise you're making, they'll all know where we are."

"Please, there's nothing dangerous going on here." Seymour says. A second later a dart came whizzing in front of his face, missing him by only a few inches. Instead of hitting him, the dart rushed into the trees and they could all hear an animal's cry of pain when the dart hit it."

"Well, I stand corrected." Seymour says after they had all been silent in shock for a minute.

"Am I the only one wondering what the heck just happened?" Jade asks. "Where did that dart come from?"

"That came from us." A heavily accented voice says from the direction that the dart had come from. Out of the trees came a group of men. The kids could tell that these men were native to wherever the heck they were, just by the way they looked.

"Alright, well, where did you come from?" Sparrow asks.

"From our village." The man who had spoken says. "Me and my brother's came hunting for the jaguar, as Gauna told us to."

"Who's Gauna?" Frank asks.

"He is god of fate and death." The man says respectfully.

"So, a god told you to come out to the jungle to hunt for a jaguar?" Jade asks.

"Yes," The man answers, "If you do not believe me, you can come with us back to the village and meet him yourselves." Now the kids were shocked. They didn't think that someone who claimed to be Gauna was actually involved in this.

"Yeah, going to your village would be great." Deseray says. The man nods to his fellow hunters and they go into the trees that the dart had gone through. A few moments later they returned with what looked like a cross between a leopard and a house cat.

"Follow us." The man says. He leads the way through the jungle, with The kids close at his heels.

"Thank you so much for doing this…" Sparrow says to the man, but she trails off.

"Xolani," The man says. "My name is Xolani."

"Well then, Xolani, thank you." Sparrow says, "We were really lost badly out there."

"Just how did you end up in this jungles?" Xolani asks, "Not many people come this way."

"We're not really sure," Jade says, "I think we started out lost, then just wandered around for a few hours. It wasn't really fun at all."

"I imagine not." Xolani says.

"Where in the world are we anyways?" Frank asks.

"The jungles of Southern Africa." Xolani answers.

"Africa, huh." Jade says, "Sounds like a fun place to begin. So, what do we do once we get to the village?"

"I for one would like to see this Gauna," Deseray says. "Just when did he come to your village anyways?"

"A few weeks ago." Xolani says, "He just appeared one day and proclaimed who he was. Some of my people didn't believe that he was really Guana, but over these past few weeks he now has everyone convinced of his divinity."

"Yeah, I thought so." Deseray says, a stern look on her face.

"What are you thinking?" Seymour whispers to her.

"I think this Guana is just one of my brothers, posing as a god." Deseray says.

"Well, this is going to be easy." Jade says.

"Yeah, we've already found the demon," Frank says, "Now we just gotta talk to him."

"Somehow I don't think it's going to be as simple as that." Seymour mutters. When they got to the village the hunters took the dead jaguar to somewhere else in the village. Xolani meanwhile lead the kids to the center of the village to where a group was gathered. In the center of the group there was a man who just by looking at him they could tell that he was the one they were looking for.

He didn't look african like everybody else, yet he seemed to be the center of everyone's attention. This man also looked like he could certainly play the part of a god. He just had an air around him, an air that said that he was better than anyone else, and everyone knew it. They could tell he was one of Deseray's siblings, because of the sign on his forehead. The sign was a black cross, same as the one that Deseray had.

"So this is Gauna?" Jade asks Xolani.

"Of course he's not the god of death, this guy's a fake." Frank says quite loudly. Everybody hears his comment and looks at him. His friends look exasperated, the natives look concerned and scared. The so called Gauna though also heard the comment, and he was not amused in the least bit.

"I would be careful if I were you, boy." Gauna says. "But I'm willing to forgive your insolence, as long as you learn that a child should speak more respectfully towards their betters."

"Betters?" Frank was angry now. He hated when people spoke down to him, and this guy wasn't even being discreet about it. "You think I need to show more respect? I'm starting to think you're the one who needs to learn a thing or two about respect to your betters."

"Frank, shut up." Seymour chides. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"I know who I'm not talking to." Frank replies, "Tell me, Gauna, does your father have any idea what you're doing, because I don't think he'll be very happy with it."

"_Enough!_" Gauna yells. He glares at Frank and says "put him up with the others." Two men came forward and dragged Frank off. The other's watched him go, but didn't do anything to help him.

"Is Frank going to be okay?" Sparrow asks.

"I'm sure Frank'll be fine." Jade says.

"This may be for the best." Deseray says. "It will be easier to talk to my brother without someone mouthing off to him."

"Speaking of mouthing off," Seymour says, "Jade, I thought for sure that if any of us would get in trouble for not shutting up, it would've been you."

"Yeah, I thought it would've been me too." Jade admits.

"Well, if that's the case, Jade, maybe it would be best if you didn't join us in talking to my brother." Deseray says. "I don't think insulting him would be the best way to go about doing this."

Jade gaped at Deseray, she was about to object to not being allowed to go with them, but changed her mind and decided to just go with it.

"Fine." Jade says hardly and she stomps away angrily.

"Now that we can do this without interference," Deseray mutters, then, out loud she addresses Gauna. "Brother, I apologize about Frank, he's a bit of a hot-head from what I can gather."

Gauna's expression quickly softened as he caught sight of Deseray. "My dear sister, what brings you to my village? And who are your companions?"

"This is Seymour and Sparrow," Deseray says, "Jade just left, and you've already had the pleasure of meeting Frank."

"Yes, unfortunately." Gauna says. Eyeing Sparrow and Seymour he continues, "Well, at least some demon's know how to behave around me. Come, sister, allow me to show you around my village."

**Oh my gosh, this was so annoying to write, for the simple yet annoying reason that my internet kept going down so I couldn't work on it for more than five minutes at a time. The internet should get better in a about a week, so I'll be able to write just fine then.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I really hate when I'm not in the mood for writing fanfiction, but I need to update stories...even if I don't know if anyone really cares if I do or not. But I can't wait until I'm more into my stories to continue writing them, because who knows who long that'll take. So here is the next chapter.**

Frank was dragged right out of the village back into the jungle. A few minutes later the two men brought him to a pit and threw him in forcibly. The pit was fairly deep, enough so that from the bottom, one couldn't just climb out. It took a minute for Frank to recover from his rough landing, once he did he realized that inside the pit was more like a cave than anything. He also realized that he wasn't alone in there.

"Who are you?" a voice growled, quite literally. Frank wasn't even positive that he was even spoken to, for all he knew it was just a wild animal that had growled at him. Either way, Frank didn't answer, which was a mistake on his part. Who ever else was in there was angered by his silence and tackled him to the ground.

"Answer me!" She shouted...wait, she? The being tackling Frank brought it out of the shadows and Frank could see clearly that it was a girl, a young girl, why, she couldn't be older than twelve. What shocked Frank even more was that he was pretty sure he saw fox ears atop her hair.

"I think I should be the one to ask who you are, and what are you doing here?" Frank asks the fox girl.

"Would you two stop interrogating each other?" Yet another voice joins in, this one belonging to a man. He easily lifted the girl off of Frank and set her back on her feet, though she crouched down on the ground immediately after. The man offered his hand to help Frank up, which he accepted.

"Nice to see you again, Frank." The man says.

"Thanks, but, uh, who are you?" Frank asks.

"Has it really been so long that you don't recognize me?" The man asks, and he sounded amused. "I'm Monk, and this fierce little ball of fur is Fare." Frank recognized the two of them now, vaguely.

"Oh yeah," Frank says sheepishly, "But remember, for most of when I was anywhere near you, I was sort of full-out demon mood, and I can never remember what happens if Shendu's in charge."

"So you're who Uncle Shendu possessed?" Fare asks. "I knew there was something I didn't like about you."

"Fare, you've never even met Shendu before," Monk says, "He and our parent's were imprisoned before you were even born."

"You don't think I know that?" Fare snaps, "As if I'd forget that I've never even met my own father before."

"Down, girl." Monk says sternly. "Go cool your head."

"Cool it where?" Fare asks hotly, "Right here is no different than any other spot in this hell-hole."

"Now!" Monkane shouts. Fare scowls and pouts, but does bound away to the far wall, leaving the two guys alone.

"What's eating her?" Frank asks.

"She's just moody because we're underground." Monkane sighs, "It's only at times like this do I actually see the family resemblance between her and Dai Gui."

"Can you honestly blame me?" Fare says from the other side of the cavern, "All that's down here is rock, dirt, and filth. It's so ugly and disgusting down here. There's not even any life down here, no plants, no animals, nothing. It's awful."

"If it's so terrible down here, why not just leave?" Frank asks Monk, "You've got such inhuman strength, you could probably jump right out."

"True, I could, and honestly, so could Fare." Monk replies, "But we tried, we couldn't get out. Pride has enchanted the cavern with good magic, and we can't touch good magic without being burned terribly."

"Pride, I guess that's who Gauna actually is, right?" Frank asks.

"Yes." Monkane answers.

"Alright, so that explains why you're still here," Frank says, "But what are you doing here in the first place?"

"Me and Fare started living here a few years ago, she enjoys the wildlife around here." Monk explains, "When Pride came a few weeks ago, me and Fare instantly recognized who he was, and that there was something wrong with him. But when we confronted him about it he threw us in here."

"Yeah, me too." Frank says, "I guess he doesn't appreciate being accused that what he's doing is wrong."

"Does anybody?" Monk points out.

"Doesn't anybody doubt he's an all powerful death god?" Frank asks.

"Not really," Monk says, "Pride is a powerful demon. Even if the villagers didn't believe he was a death god right away, Pride is very, very gifted in the arts of persuasion."

"Persuasion?" Frank asks dubiously, "They think he's this Gauna guy because he's persuasive?"

"Magical persuasion," Monk clarifies, "He uses his dark magic to get what he wants, just as his father taught him too." I think each of the seven deadly sins are gifted in a form of magic that their father taught them."

"Well, that's fascinating" Frank says frustratingly, "But seriously, we need to get out of here. I can't just sit here waiting for somebody else to do something."

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice." Monkane says, "We can't leave until the spell is gone. I doubt even you can. You have demon chi flowing through your body, and it's too strong to be resistant to the pain of good magic."

"So we have to just wait?" Frank groans.

"What other choice do we have?" Monkane sighs. "Let's look on the bright side. Nothing else can possibly happen to us in here to make our situation worse.

**Yay, I've finally managed to write something. I was even able to get into what I was writing. Yes, the chapter's short, I think most of these chapter's will be, but I think there will be more chapters.**

**What's kind of funny is that I found out that Dai Gui's name is Japanese, which is interesting enough, considering he's a Chinese demon. It get's better though, Dai Gui means Gluttony. If I knew that a year ago, I probably would have planned this story so that Dai Gui was **_**the **_**Gluttony, but it's much too late to make such a change like that. Anyways, please review, and be patient, I will eventually update all my stories.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh my gosh, it's been forever since I've worked on this. I'm not very confident about this story, or the next three following it. However, the story after that will be epic...and I'm pretty sure forever long too.**

**Despite the fact that I'm not sure if anyone is interested in this story at all, I will finish it, and the ones following it. So, let's get back into the story.**

Jade walked angrily away from the village. Who did Deseray think she was? Telling Jade it was better off if she wasn't around. Deep down inside, Jade secretly agreed with Deseray's suggestion...which somehow made it even worse.

Jade took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. Her anger was exactly why it was better she wasn't around Deseray's brother. Frustratingly enough, when Jade tried to calm herself down, she became even angrier. It's like it was physically impossible to not be furious.

"Don't try to bottle it all up, let it out. Trust me, it's best that way." Someone said. Jade jumped, startled. She had thought that she was entirely alone, and she couldn't imagine who would be out in the jungles by themselves...well, besides her.

"Who said that?" Jade demanded cautiously, "Come out."

"Alright, I'm comin'." the voice said. A boy who seemed just a year or two younger than Jade came out from the bushes with his hands up. Jade blinked at the sight of him. He definitely wasn't african, though Jade couldn't place what he was. What stood out most about him though was his hair, which was entirely blue and reddish purple.

"Uh, hi." Jade said awkwardly. "Who are you?"

"You can just call me Ira, Jade." He said.

"Okay, how do you know my name?" Jade asked suspiciously.

"I know a lot of things." Ira said. "But looking past that, would you mind if I joined you on your little stroll?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Jade said. The two walked in silence for a minute before Jade's curiosity got the best of her.

"Why's your hair blue and purple?" She asked.

"Because it's cool." Ira responded. "My brother has similar hair as me."

"He does?" Jade asked, "Seems like an interesting color choice to me."

"Me and my brother are interesting guys." Ira said. He then looked up to the trees wistfully. "I wish he were here."

"Where is he?" Jade asked.

"I had to leave him behind." Ira said, "I have business to attend to, and he's not fit for traveling at the moment."

"Business? What kind of business could someone like you possibly have all the way out here?" Jade asked.

"Well, not business exactly, more like personal matters that I have to deal with." Ira said, his face suddenly becoming dark.

"What kind of personal matters?" Jade asked.

"Revenge." He answered darkly, "Against your foolish companions."

"Revenge? What did they do to you?" Jade asked.

"Oh, not all of your companions, at least, not as much as one." Ira reassured her, "Mostly my grudge is against Lust, Pride, and the others."

"But why? And you know who Lust and Pride are?"

"Of course I know who they are, I know even better than you do. It's their fault that my brother is suffering the way he is, and they're too dense to even realize what they're doing." Ira yelled. The pure fury in his voice startled Jade a bit. "I will get even with them, and it would be in your best interest to stay out of my way. My grudge isn't against you in the least bit. In fact, I would much rather you didn't get caught in this whole thing."

"Why do you care about me?" Jade asked. Ira's anger made her uneasy, but she somehow couldn't bring herself to hold it against him.

"I just do." Ira said irritably. By this time the two had reached an empty clearing in the jungle, which surprised Jade. It didn't look natural.

"What happened here?" Jade asked.

Ira bent down and picked up a lone bright blue flower that had been hidden beneath the dirt and debris. "This was where a batch of wildflowers grew. They're simple weeds, but still beautiful and useful. I imagine Pride ordered every single flower to be brought to him, simply because he could. He can be quite conceited like that."

Ira fiddled with the flower and a necklace chain he had in his pocket. A minute later he held up the necklace, with the blue flower in the middle, like a pendent.

"Would you wear this, please, Jade?" Ira asked with a charming smile. Jade could see mischievousness in his eyes, though she had no idea what he was planning.

She eyed him cautiously. "Why?"

"As a favor, to me." Ira said, "I assure you, it's harmless." Without waiting for an answer Ira put the flower necklace around Jade's neck. Jade was surprised that she could barely feel it. Something was going on here, but she couldn't find any harm in just wearing the stupid thing.

"If I get so much as a rash from this thing, I'm taking it off." Jade said.

"Agreed." Ira said happily. "Come, it's getting late. We should get you back to your friends soon." Jade agreed and the two headed back to the village. Upon arriving there though Jade turned and saw that Ira had mysteriously disappeared, though she had seen him just moments before.

**That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Really, I just gotta get writing this. Let me share a secret though, reviews encourage my writing. So please, review, it'll only take a minute of your time, it'll make my day, and we'll get further along with the story sooner.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Nothing like a long car drive to get inspired for a story, that's what I found out this weekend. So, here I am, re-excited to write this story. I'd better finish the story quickly before I don't feel like it anymore.**

The next few days went slowly for Frank. Here he was, still stuck in the stupid pit, with still no way out thanks to that good magic protection spell. The only company Frank had was, of course, Fare and Monkane, though Fare didn't exactly count, because the whole time Frank had been there, the girl had not stopped brooding. She just acted moody and sat in her little 'corner' of the pit.

Monkane seemed to be concerned about Fare, she didn't normally act this way. Frank just thought that Monk was overreacting, like he always did when it came to anything to do with Fare. Monk took the role of overprotective cousin to the extreme. This overprotectiveness led Monkane to become worried when Fare didn't get up one morning.

"Fare, are you alright?" Monk asked. When he went over to her he saw that she was still sleeping, though uneasily. "Something's wrong" Monk muttered when he saw this.

"Or she could just be sleeping in. It's still early." Frank pointed out.

"Sleeping in, right." Monk snickered, "Fare doesn't sleep in. She barely sleeps enough to get her enough energy, no more." Monk put his hand against Fare's forehead, and narrowed his eyes. "She's burning up." He commented.

This caught Frank's attention. "A fever? I didn't know demons could get fevers."

"In normal circumstances, they can't." Monk said. "There's magic involved in this. I can feel it." Monkane kept his hand on Fare's forehead and closed his eyes. A moment later he said "I thought so. Fare has been sick for a while, since before you got here. She didn't want me to know, because she didn't want me to worry. Fare doesn't know what's wrong, but she suspects that some animals may know a thing or two."

"And, you know this how?" Frank asked. Monkane was really starting to weird him out.

"I read Fare's mind. Even when unconscious, one's mind still goes on." Monkane said. "We'll have to talk to an animal to figure out what's going on."

"Great, just one problem." Frank said, "We can't get out of here!" Monkane finally opened his eyes and looked at Frank. His eyes had a new, wild look in them, one that Frank hadn't seen for years, but wouldn't forget anytime soon.

"Kane, you work quickly." Frank said. He would recognize Kane's twisted personality anywhere.

"Not much quicker than you." Kane replied, "And don't you worry yourself on how we're getting out of here. I have a plan, you know."

"Why am I not assured by that reassurance?" Frank asked.

"I told you to not worry." Kane said impatiently. "Just do what I say. Believe me, you're not the one who shall be injured here. Now, I would appreciate it if you would kindly use the power of the rooster talisman to levitate me up to the hole out of this place, and try to push me out of here."

Frank didn't know what kind of plan he had been expecting, but that wasn't anywhere close. "You seriously want me to force you against a barrier of good magic? Are you sure that's a good plan."

"No, but it's a quick one, so just do it." Kane said furiously. Frank put his hands up in defence.

"Alright, I'll do it. It's been nice knowing you." Frank said. He used the powers of the talisman to levitate Monkane, just as he'd been told. When brought close to the magic barrier, Kane used all his strength to break through it, to no avail. He didn't break through it, all he did was get stung harshly by the good magic. Kane wasn't about to give up so easily though.

Frank and Kane shoved against the barrier with all their might, and, finally, after what felt like forever, the barrier fell under their combined strength. Kane flew out of the cave and collapsed on the ground outside. It took Frank a minute to get over his shock. He hadn't honestly expected that to work, or for Kane to continue fighting against the barrier until it fell. When Frank got over his shock, he used his levitation powers to bring himself and Fare out of the pit next to Monkane.

Kane was lying on the ground, exhausted and in immense pain. Fighting against the good magic had taken its toll on him. He had severe burns across his body, and yet, he was grinning in satisfaction.

"That was a rush, but I knew I could do it." Monk said with difficulty.

"Yeah, that makes one of us." Frank commented. He took a seat on the ground, to wait until Kane was well enough to leave, which would be awhile. "You certainly think a lot of yourself."

Kane glanced curiously at Frank. "I really don't understand you, which is something I'm not used to. If you were fully Shendu, you would have left me and Fare here. But if you were fully Frank, you would be more humane and concerned about me and Fare. You're neither being, so what exactly are you?"

"You could say that I'm half Frank and half Shendu, part of both all the time." Frank answered easily. "Couldn't you tell that by reading my mind, as you so love doing?"

"I can't read your mind." Kane said, "It's too chaotic in there, I'm not sure how you can stand it. Both of you constantly shouting and arguing, your thoughts merging into one. I can't imagine either of you being content with this arrangement."

"What else do you suggest I do?" Frank asked, "This is the only way to not let Shendu gain complete control at the smallest push."

"No, it is most definitely not the only way." Kane said, "Trust me on this, I should know, considering my situation with Monk."

Frank didn't say anything, but thought about what Kane had said. He had a point. Though Kane took control of their body sometimes, it was with an equal agreement on both sides.

"How do you do it?" Frank asked.

"It's actually quite easy." Kane said. "We made an arrangement. Monk takes control until he chooses to let me have my fun, which would be when we're by ourselves, or if Fare is in danger. Monk by himself is physically weaker than me, nearly as weak as any pathetic human is. So when Monk needs it, he asks to borrow my strength, which I willingly give when he grovels."

"So, you're saying that you are willing to take second wheel as long as Monk lets you do all the hard stuff?" Frank asked. He really didn't believe it.

"Here's a lesson for you, boy." Kane said. "Demons love it when anybody humbles themselves and asks for their help."

"That's true." Frank admitted. "But somehow, I don't think that Shendu will be willing to let me take control until such a time as I decide to let him out."

"You'd be surprised what a demon is willing to do for a taste of freedom if there's no other chance." Kane pointed out. "Besides, I'm sure that Shendu hates being a shell of his former self, and I'm sure you're sick of it too."

"Maybe we could give this a try." Frank muttered, though he still wasn't sure.

"Great, glad that we have that settled." Monkane said. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to talk to that young jaguar behind you." Frank jumped back, startled. There was indeed a young jaguar behind him. Not quite an adult, but not a cub either. Frank backed away slowly, while Monkane shakily stood up and went closer to it.

"Young one, my cousin is in need of help. I was hoping you may know something that may help us." Monkane said to the jaguar. The wild cat growled, though Kane seemed to understand what it meant. Kane listened to it for a while, questioning it occasionally, until he had the information he needed. Kane turned back to Frank.

"Fare isn't the only plagued by this illness. It's affecting most of the children in the village." Kane informed him. "The animals know these jungles, and know what caused this. There is a special blue flower that grows all over the place. The flowers are beautiful, but dangerous. The roots have a scent that is poisonous to humans, and the flower counteracts the poison."

"Why would Fare be affected by it then?" Frank asked. Fare wasn't even a human.

"Normally, the poison wouldn't be strong enough to make anyone ill, unless they breathed in the poison by having the root right against their nose." Kane said. "This plague is made more powerful with the aid of magic. Fare is affected because I suspect she really did have her nose right against the roots. It is common for the flowers to grow around here, so there would be roots underground, where we were."

"And we weren't affected because we just happened to not breath in the roots?" Frank asked, and Kane nodded. "Alright, so what happened to the flowers?"

Kane's expression darkened. "Pride likes the look of the flowers, so he had the children of the village pick them all and bring them to him. He's the reason why people are getting sick."

"But it's not his magical influence that's making the poison worse, is it?" Frank asked.

"No, that's because of someone else's powerful magic." Kane said. "But I don't know whose magic power, so for now I'm just going to forget about that and instead head back to the village to have a word with the great Pride." Monkane said this as if he would like nothing more than to pummel Pride into next week, though he knew better than to try to attack Pride like that.

Frank knew that Monkane was still weak and would have trouble getting just himself back to the village. So Frank gently, as to not enrage Kane more, picked up Fare and the two young men began the journey back to the village.

**Okay, wow, that was fun. I forgot how much fun this series could be, seriously. I just need to keep writing, though I'm just winging it. I hope you enjoyed that chapter, and if you didn't, well, that's not my fault.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Lookie here, I'm back again. This story is seriously taking forever, I'm getting sick of writing it, so let's see if I can make this the last chapter. After this story, I'll probably write other Jackie Chan Adventure fanfictions that have nothing to do with this series, because I need a break.**

As Frank and Monkane got to the village they saw for themselves that what the Jaguar had said was true. In normal days, all the children would be outside. Now though, they saw little to no kids, as the rest were most likely inside, too unwell to leave their homes. There were more adults around, but all of them looked nervous and anxious with worry for the young ones. Frank and Kane didn't know what they could do to fix things, but they were certainly going to try something.

Both of them agreed that whatever they were going to do, they would have to start with talking to Pride. So they made their way to the center of the village, where it seemed that most of the people in the village were. They all seemed to be there for the same reason that Frank and Monkane were, the sickness. They wanted to know what was going on. In the center of everything was Pride and the others. Lust was talking with her brother about something, but Pride didn't seem to want to listen. Sparrow and Seymour were there too, though they stayed out of the way. When Sparrow saw Frank she smiled and went over to him.

"Frank, you're okay!" She said happily. She hadn't seen him for days, and had been worried. Her happiness quickly turned to concern when she saw Fare, who Frank was still holding. "What happened?" She asked.

"She's sick, like most all the other children in the town." Kane said.

"Yeah, I noticed that." Sparrow said. "But why are they all sick?"

"There's a plague or something going around." Frank said. He explained to Sparrow about the flowers and the roots, then asked if she was sick too.

"I haven't even left the village." Sparrow said. "The only one of us that has would be Jade. I haven't seen her around very much."

"Do you know where she is now?" Frank asked, now concerned about Jade.

"I'm right here." Jade's voice said as she made her way through the crowd to join them. Frank was about to ask if she was okay, when he saw her blue flower pendant.

"Where did you get that?" He asked. Jade was about to answer, but Kane beat her to it.

"It was given to her by a new friend." Kane said, and he looked amused. Jade glared at him, not amused at all.

"Don't read my mind, you big freak." Jade said angrily. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Me and Fare live here." Kane said. "And there's no reason to be angry at me for looking into your boyfriends thoughts four years ago."

"How did you…" But Jade trailed off, she knew exactly how he knew.

"How is Charlie doing, anyway?" Monkane asked casually.

"Uh, he's fine, I guess." Jade said hesitantly. She wasn't sure why Kane was asking, as if he cared.

"Has he gotten better with his little problem?" Monkane asked slyly.

"He's doing loads better." Jade snapped.

"No he's not." Monkane said. "If he were, you would trust him more."

"I do trust him." Jade argued, though she sounded unsure. Monkane smirked and leaned closer to Jade.

"If you trusted him, then you wouldn't have to take away his knife, now would you?" Monkane whispered menacingly so only she would hear. Jade was shaking in anger now and was so ready to kick Kane's butt, or, at least try to. Fortunately, Frank stepped between the two of them before she could do anything.

"Jade, calm down. He's only trying to get you riled up." Frank said to his friend.

"Tch, well, it's working." Jade said unhappily. Frank turned to the demon.

"Why don't you try taking your frustrations out on somebody you're actually angry with? Leave Jade alone." Frank said. Monkane merely shrugged.

"Or I can just take what I want." Monkane said. He went over to the big pile of blue flowers that were right to the side where Lust and Pride were speaking, and just took one, which Pride wasn't very happy about.

"What do you think you're doing?" Pride demanded. Kane ignored him for a minute while he took the flower over to Fare and laid it on her chest. Only then did he turn back to Pride, and he wasn't happy.

"I'm helping my younger cousin." Kane said. "She, like all the other children in the village, are ill because of you, and only the flowers that you stole can heal them."

"I am aware of that." Pride said. "But what does it matter to me if the little brats die?"

"You see what he says?" A random voice said. Jade looked out into the crowd. She could've sworn that the voice belonged to Ira. Pride and Lust seemed to recognize the voice too. The person continued. "It is because of this spirit that our young are sick. He has brought nothing but death with him. I say we send him from the village." Many people murmured in agreement.

"I think we should leave soon before things get out of hand." Deseray said. "Brother, please, come with us."

"Why should I?" Pride asked. Seymour stepped forward to answer.

"What reason have you to stay in this village?" Seymour asked. "They clearly do not appreciate your might and power. I beg you to join us on our journey. We could really use your help. We can't do it without you." Pride now seemed to seriously consider going with them. After a minute he came to a decision.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Pride agreed. "I'll come with you."

"Thank you." Seymour bowed his head humbly. Jade grabbed Seymour's arm and pulled him aside.

"You know, I forget how much of a flatterer you were." Jade said. Seymour just smiled.

"Alright, so where are we going next?" Sparrow asked.

"We'll know when we get there." Frank said. He turned to Kane. "You coming?"

"No, I think we'll stay here and help with damage control." Monkane said. "I'm pretty sure that a cure for the sickness will be found quite easily now that we have the flowers. Keep my advice on mind, you may find it useful."

Frank nodded and began to prepare the teleportation spell. Jade saw this and wondered if it was such a good idea to teleport away here while they were standing in the middle of a village. Monkane noticed her concern spoke up.

"Don't worry about the people, I'll handle it." Monkane said. Jade blinked. She didn't think she'd ever get used to a demon that could read her every thought.

"Alright guys, let's go." Frank said. Sparrow, Jade, Lust, Seymour, and Pride gathered together as Frank finished the spell. And in a flash of light, they were gone to their next destination.

**YES, I FINALLY FINISHED IT! Oh my goodness, what a pain, but I did it. Hopefully the next story won't be as bad, or else I'll never get this series done.**


End file.
